What are the common values and principles in the Petaluma community?
Petaluma’s a pretty diverse place for Sonoma County (which is a not-so-diverse place in and of itself!)–a mix of old-time ranchers, new-time immigrants from the city, suburban families with no interest in sustainability, Latino families some of whom are progressive and others who aren’t, a progressive community, some artists on the edges. I think there are common values in respect for the land and for family, but our town is split by politics, class and race, just like most American cities. Our town is also split by Highway 101 and I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems that the dividing line of geography has either created or been created by a dividing line of values. Of course this isn’t totally uniform (there are progressives and eco-freaks living on the east side of the freeway and mainstream folks living in the west), but the east side is characterized by McMansions and a motor boat in every driveway and a lot of lawns and fertilizer and wasted energy, while the west side has
